Cape Fear Latinos Festival at Live Oak Bank Pavilion rescheduled to Sept. 30, 2023

Tropical storm Ophelia forced the event to be pushed back a week, and now organizers are ready for the huge event this weekend

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — After a week-long rain delay, the Cape Fear Latinos festival hopes to attract big crowds to the Live Oak Bank Pavilion in downtown Wilmington, NC Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023.

“We wanted to have this event in collaboration with Cape Fear Latinos, a local non-profit, to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month” explained Mari McKenzie, with the New Hanover County Office of Diversity and Equity, during an interview with Good Morning Carolina’s Donna Gregory .

“We have such a …diverse Hispanic community here in Wilmington that we wanted to showcase our Mexican heritage, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, lots of different cultures that live in Wilmington,” McKenzie said.

The festival has been rescheduled to Saturday from 2 p.m. – 8 p.m. at the pavilion at 10 Cowan Street in Wilmington, NC.

McKenzie suggests attendees arrive downtown early, and park in any available spot as close as possible to the pavilion.  There is no specially designated parking for this event.

[For detailed information about available parking options in the downtown Wilmington area, visit here . ]

“Just go, find a spot, come join us and we’ll be there,” she laughed.

There’s something for every member of the family at this year’s festival, and McKenzie says organizers are very excited about what people will experience once they arrive Saturday afternoon.

There is no admission charge, but food and craft items will be available for purchase.

“We have lots of food stands and food trucks, we have vendors and organizations — and a food truck that will be selling fruits and traditional Mexican foods and things like that– there’s gonna be music,” McKenzie said.

“We’re just excited about celebrating our different cultures and traditions at the festival,” she added.

McKenzie said at least three groups are scheduled to be performing folkloric dancing at this year’s event, and there’s more live entertainment throughout the day.

“We have 3 groups that will be singing different traditional songs,” she offered.

“I think it’s going to be a very festive day for everybody to just go enjoy with their family and spend the afternoon into the evening, and just enjoy Hispanic heritage,” she added.

The Cape Fear Latinos non-profit web site has more details about the event.

Here’s information from the site:

This year, we are celebrating the second annual Cape Fear Latinos Festival at Live Oak Pavillion in Wilmington, NC. This family-friendly festival celebrating local Latino and Hispanic culture recognizes Hispanic Heritage Month with free entertainment, dancing, music, children’s games, activities…. Join us this year on September 30 from 2-8 pm for another day of fun and culture!

A small parade was supposed to be included in this year’s festival, and everything was organized to make that happen on the original date of the event (9/23).

But there is a conflict this weekend, so the parade portion of the festival had to be cancelled.

Here’s the updated parade information that organizers sent to WWAY :

“Because of the NAACP state convention taking place at the Wilmington Convention Center, we can’t block/close roadways in the area.”

The Cape Fear Latinos was founded to help address what it called a lack of equal access to resources to the local Latino community.

Since its inception, the non-profit organization has evolved to offer community education and entertainment events, translation services and support for members of the Latino community.

That support can be in the form of rent and food assistance, legal aid, resources for jobs and housing, and events designed to fortify connections within the community.

For more information about the Cape Fear Latinos organization, visit here .

WWAY has not yet received the names and schedule for this year’s festival performers, but the most up to date information about the festival is on the Cape Fear Latino’s social media sites.

To connect directly to the organization’s Facebook page, visit here